Federal Gov’t Reaffirms Commitment To N70,000 Minimum Wage Implementation

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to fully implement the new N70,000 minimum wage across all levels, ruling out any partial measures.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, made this disclosure on Monday following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Acknowledging the progress made by various state governments, Akume commended those who have already begun implementing the policy.

He emphasised that the new national minimum wage remains a priority for President Tinubu administration.

“The issue of the new minimum wage has always been central to the thinking of the government of President Bola Tinubu, and that was why he quickly assembled the team.

“They put in place a tripartite arrangement to look at all the issues, and this was properly carried out.

“The governors were represented, the federal government was represented, and the organised private sector was also part of it. So we all arrived at the new minimum wage,” Akume stated.

The SGF expressed satisfaction with the implementation levels, highlighting that some states have even gone beyond the N70,000 benchmark.

“We are very satisfied with it. And, some state governments have started implementing; others have even gone beyond N70,000. So, I believe that there’s no problem with that whatsoever,” he noted.

Akume also urged governors who were yet to commence implementation to prioritise the payment of new minimum wage.

“We applaud those who have started,” he said. “For those who have not started, we just want to appeal to them to start the payment. What is that? What is it, at the level of the federal government? Is it fully, as the federal government done? Is in terms of full implementation, quite, quite frankly, the federal government is totally committed. Today is full.”

“There’s no half measure about this at all. It’s full, okay,” Akume affirmed.

Additionally, Akume noted that his discussion with the President included other matters concerning state governance.